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Sounds like he just wants you out and hedging his bet.
Could be the dialog has gotten to the point that nobody believes anybody...
If it were me... I would plan on appearing at the hearing just to let the judge know the date you vacated and the returned the keys...
good advice as always ultra!
OP in the end all the appearance is meant to do is to legally return the property to the owner. You should appear, give the judge good notice that you have vacated the property and that will tie up any loose ends.
He started that evection long before you were moving, hense the late arrival of the sheriff. Those things take time and you moved while it was in process.
I hope if nothing else, you never have a conversation with anyone ever again without getting everything in writing. If you had everything you told us, in writing, you would have him over a barrel.
He started that evection long before you were moving, hense the late arrival of the sheriff. Those things take time and you moved while it was in process.
I hope if nothing else, you never have a conversation with anyone ever again without getting everything in writing. If you had everything you told us, in writing, you would have him over a barrel.
the paper work was filed on the 25th, AFTER we signed our new lease and forward him our new lease. we were served on the 30th
we've been talking w/ some neighbors and the situation has taken quite the turn. he has apparently been telling our neighbors that he's going to evict "these black people from my apartment" in May, even before the rent issue came up. And he's been telling the same people how he'll "never rent to blacks again". Two of our neighbors have volunteered to either give a written statement or come w/ us to court since he has said quite a lot about us in our absence. It really makes us wonder if his previous actions (which started before rent became an issue) wasn't due to something more. I hate thinking like that because I'm not the sort to see racism around every corner, but when our neighbors, one of whom we've never spoken to before and just walked up to us to say "your landlord is a bigoted jerk", offers this info, it's hard to ignore. the irony of it all is that one of the roommate who left w/o paying rent was white, but isn't even named in the lawsuit. curious...
At this point, even w/o proof of the settlement (though one lawyer stated that our emailed conversations may be enough), we have enough on him in terms of the illegal lockout/utility shut offs and other violations, never mind these new allegations of possible discrimination, I feel confident we'll be okay in court.
we're far more worried that he'll sue us in court for what he claims we owe him for the "damages", along w/ the back rent. at this point, the amount he claims we owe him for repairs and cleaning surpasses any money we would have given us and that we own him at least an additional $1500, which is ridiculous. He says it'll cost over $1K to fix a half dollar sized, shallow gouge to the hardwood floor (the friend that I mentioned above estimated it at between $250-400). he's already been bugging us to pay for the floors ASAP, again, despite not giving us a legit quote.
Did you have a move-in inspection? You don't have to pay for any damages that's been already there, if they were documented. You also don't have to pay for any wear and tear, if the floor problem is due to this. You only have to pay if you damaged the floor, like burning the carpet or if your cats damaged it. You don't have to pay wall painting for sure, if you didn't repaint them your color.
He has the right to take the amount for repairs from your security deposit, but then he has to provide you with an itemized list of how this money has been spent (how much contractors charge), and return the rest. If he spends more then your security deposit, then he should send you a bill. If you don't pay the bill, then he can send it to a collector. At this point I don't see for what reasons you can be sued. Moreover, if he didn't return your security deposit in time (timeframe depending on your state), and didn't send you an itemizes list of repairs, then you can sue him for a double of your security deposit. If the list contains wear and tear, or prices are unrealistic, you can sue him as well.
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Originally Posted by eevee
take highly detail pictures/videos so he can't later say he'll need to hire cleaners or painters and we have to pay for it.
it's a good idea
Quote:
Originally Posted by eevee
Okay, so this makes ZERO sense! We read the summons. He sent us a summons for eviction. 24 hours after we had already moved out 98% of our stuff. 24 hours after his building manager saw our movers haul out our stuff. 48 hours after we sent him proof that we were moving by giving him a copy of our signed lease for the new place. The only reason we still have the keys is to go through some storm damaged boxes in the basement, clean since we've decided against hiring a service and just doing it ourselves (not sinking any more money into this place), and to retrieve the pets since movers don't move live animals.
Did he serve you a 60-day or 3-day eviction notice? 3-days would be, if you had strong violations, such as dealing drugs. If there was no notice, he cannot apply to court for unlawful retainer. You should send an "answer" to the court (forms should be available) where you can indicate that you didn't receive any notice. You have to check with your state law. I don't know if at this point it's too late for you to send the answer and you have to appear in court, but you should sue this landlord for sure for harassment.
What I understand, he regrets that he offered you money to move out, and is trying to "move you out" for free by evicting you and taking your security deposit.
Last edited by whiterabbit2; 08-04-2011 at 08:04 PM..
As I said... not all people are rational and in business... being irrational can be costly or even fatal to a business.
Discrimination of a protected class is illegal and having the proof to establish this is a plus for your side.
My opinion is the more witnesses you can bring to testify the better. Judges seem to give more weight to a person's testimony when presented in court as opposed to a notarized statement.
Would the issue of housing discrimination be heard at the same court where a LL/tenant issue is heard? I would think in most places that the discrimination, which violates Federal law, would be heard at Federal court, but as Ultrarunner says, it's best to consult a local lawyer for legal answers. I'd be tempted to pursue this discrimination issue for two reasons: it is not something I can tolerate, and because he just plain old sounds like a jerk. A discrimination lawyer will tell you if you have a case or not.
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